3) Starting pitcher Luis Castillo
The Blue Jays have a very weird starting rotation. Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman each have an ERA below 3.00. But José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi each have an ERA north of 5.00. Ross Stripling has pitched well (3.16 ERA) but he’s on the IL. Hyun-jin Ryu is also done for the year. Mitch White should help in that department but the Blue Jays will regret not having the quality rotation depth in the playoffs. Luis Castillo would have provided that.
Castillo was traded from the Reds to the Seattle Mariners, who have the second Wild Card spot right now. So if the season ended today, the Jays would face Castillo and the Mariners in the Wild Card series. He will also be there next year.
On the season, Castillo has made 16 starts and he has a 2.71 ERA and he’s averaging more than six innings per start, which is a rarity in today’s era. The 2022 All-Star had a 165 ERA+, a 3.17 FIP, a 1.043 WHIP, and an average of 3.0 walks and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He has also faced the Yankees (the Jays’ division rival) in three of his last four starts (one with Cincinnati and two with Seattle) and he was fantastic.
- 7/14: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 8 K
- 8/3 (first start with Seattle)): 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, 8 K
- 8/9: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Worst of all for the Toronto Blue Jays, Castillo isn’t a free agent until after the 2023 season so he could hurt the Blue Jays in the playoffs this year and in the regular season and postseason next year.